CSU reports record enrollment

FORT COLLINS – Colorado State University posted record student enrollment for the sixth consecutive year as well as a substantial increase in international students, though CSU’s freshman class declined.

CSU’s enrollment has reached a record 31,514 students, a 2.8-percent increase above last year’s 30,647, the university said Monday. Nearly nine out of 10 new students last year are enrolled again this semester at CSU, a key factor in the record enrollment.

A total of 4,443 new freshmen joined the campus, a slight decline of about 100 students from last year. The class is more diverse, however, including 912 racially and ethnically diverse freshmen and 61 international students. More than 20 percent of students are Asian, black, Hispanic, American Indian or other racial or ethic background this year vs. 19 percent last year.

SPONSORED CONTENT

How dispatchable resources enable the clean energy transition

Platte River must prepare for the retirement of 431 megawatts (MW) of dispatchable, coal-fired generation by the end of the decade and address more frequent extreme weather events that can bring dark calms (periods when there is no sun or wind).

This year, freshman nonresident applications surpassed Colorado applications for the first time. Freshman nonresident enrollment has increased by 24 percent over the past three years. Nonresident students make up 26 percent of this year’s freshman class.

International enrollment increased to 1,506 students this year, a 23-percent increase over last year. CSU’s international enrollment has increased 70 percent over the past five years. International students now account for 5.6 percent of CSU’s student population.

CSU has ramped up its recruiting efforts of international students, particularly in China. The university has working agreements with five Chinese universities: East China Normal University, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, Hunan University, China Agricultural University and Beijing Normal University.

CSU aims to double international enrollment to 3,000 by 2020.

Resident undergraduate and graduate enrollment also have increased, 0.7 percent and 3.1 percent. About 77 percent of students are Colorado residents while 23 percent are nonresidents.